House Finale Recap: Did Everybody Die?!

If you have yet to watch tonight’s House series finale, run — don’t walk — to the nearest exit. Everyone else, read on…

Holy smokes.

The series finale of House found the cantankerous doc arguing with his subconscious – tricked out with several familiar faces — about why it was time for him to leave the land of the living. (Perhaps you thought selfish House was going to let Wilson steal the mortality spotlight for another episode?) As flames slowly consumed the abandoned building where he lay, it looked very much like the end of the series was going to double as the fiery end of its main character — rather fitting for a man who used his scorched earth policy as a calling card for eight seasons. But a switcheroo in the final act, no matter how unlikely, allowed the ultimate episode to be all things to all people: an examination of altruism, a paean to a great teacher, and a testament to male friendship. Of course, it wouldn’t have been House without a baffling medical case on top of it all. Let’s take a look at the high points of the series finale, “Everybody Dies.” (Or do they?)

Hell of a reunion | As flames steadily consumed the abandoned building where he lay in a drug daze, House’s inner self took the form of people from his past. First up was Kutner, who pointed out two important things: the man laying on the floor next to House was dead, and the building was ablaze. We learned that the dead dude was a junkie patient (Girls’ James LeGros) who’d been in House’s care and who, upon learning he was dying of ALS, selflessly agreed to take the fall for the doc’s MRI-ending, season-ticket prank. But as much as House wanted someone to end the possibility of his return to prison — which would make him unable to be there for best buddy Wilson’s final months — he realized he’d misdiagnosed the addict; surgery changed the game, and the patient lived… long enough to OD when he and a despondent House shot up in a drug den. That’s when Kutner arrived, followed by Amber (main point: House doesn’t love helping people, he just loves solving puzzles), Stacy (main point: Though he claims not to, House believes in love), and Cameron (main point: House was arguing with himself until the fire got so bad that fate would make the choice he was too cowardly to make). The blonde’s harsh words snapped him into action. “You’re right,” he agreed, making his way unsteadily to his feet. “But I can change.” Yay! Until…

Up in flames| With an assist from Dr. Nolan, Wilson and Foreman deduced that House was in an emotionally bad place and then tracked him to a physically bad place — the empty, burning building. They watched him limp toward the exit, then seemingly get taken down by a falling beam moments before an explosion blew out the windows. Poor Wilson. He’s having a seriously bad couple of months, no? After a coroner confirmed that a body pulled from the ashes was the Vicodin-popping physician, his friends gathered for a funeral. The show did a nice, concise job of pulling together our old favorites; Cameron, Chase, Masters, Thirteen, House’s mom, and Stacy joined Foreman, Park, Taub, Adams, Dominika, and Wilson. But the cancer patient’s starkly honest eulogy — “The truth was, he was a bitter jerk.” — was interrupted by a text message: “Shut up you idiot.” Either we have a Pretty Little Liars situation brewing here, or… could it be?!?

He lives! | Listen. I don’t care how unlikely it is that a drug-addled man who has impaired mobility under normal circumstances (and likely was suffering from smoke inhalation) snuck out the back of a towering inferno unnoticed. I’m also not going to question his convenient explanation that he switched his dental records with the corpse’s. All I care about is that Wilson is going to be able to spend his dwindling days with is best friend. “I’m dead, Wilson,” House said. “How do you want to spend your last five months?” Wilson’s grin was the perfect answer. We even got to see them ride off into the bucolic countryside together! Swoon. (Bonus points, House, for letting us know that Chase took over for his former mentor and that Cameron is happily married with a cute infant and loving husband, and for at least mentioning the much-missed Cuddy at least once during the episode.)

Lines of the night

“Did you never see Dead Poet’s Society? Carpe diem.” — House on his good mood, despite some bad times (and a shout-out to Robert Sean Leonard’s star-making vehicle)

“Blah blah blah” — House’s team talking medical details, at least in his head

“Everybody lies.” — Wilson on the addict’s false home address, and a nod to the title of the series’ pilot

“Cancer’s boring.” — House’s last words of the episode

What did you think? Grade the episode in the poll below and then hit the comments with your thoughts.

So much to love about this episode. One thing no one is talking about though is how it’s very much implied that Forman figured out what had happened. A very touching nod to the Forman House relationship. Outstanding.

“Did you never see Dead Poet’s Society? Carpe diem.” — House on his good mood, despite some bad times (and a shout-out to Robert Sean Leonard’s star-making vehicle)]
YES, that was great! And a mind-twister, as RSL now exists in our world and their world in House’s mind. We live in all the worlds at once, as Aldous Huxley said…

Also – it’s House for heaven’s sakes! Do you REALLY know a Vicodin popping alcoholic hooker “regular” that can jump off hotel buildings, crash into houses, flip around on buses, have heart attacks, brain surgery, plus operate on their own leg that is actually ALIVE and/or brilliant? Of COURSE he has a Bond/McGuyver type of ability to survive an explosion, “run” away, sneak phones and badges and dental records, escape all detection and pull this whole thing off. It’s TV.

I enjoyed the ending…but was not as powerful than “No Reason” or “House’s Head” or even “Broken” but was enjoyable and end perfectly the entire series…
But the Swan Song -Retrospective was superior & delighful…Great job by HLaurie to follow/introduced the entire cast & crew…proof how he’s respectful (vice/versa) to everyone who helped creating the series during 8 yrs…And of course, the “House/James Bond spoof” & paintball battle with RSL was priceless…amazing chemistry between them…Someone must give them their own series/movie in a near future…

House gave up everything, including his precious things for Wilson and for a new start. That was a big change, that was a big step. He believes in love after all!
I think House has a chance for the future now.

Hugh and Robert are amazing! I wish they meet again in the future! In a comedy, maybe…

That was a great finale, probably the best I’ve ever seen. The only thing that could have made it even better would have been an appearance of Cuddy. Especially with pretty much *everyone* else showing up. Made her absence even more conspicuous.
I get that she probably wouldn’t have shown up at the funeral, after everything that happened. But she should have been one of House’s hallucinations. Really disappointed in Lisa Edelstein about that. Makes her seem petty and ungracious.
Anyway, awesome finale.

I agree! What with everyone being there, the finale was clearly a goodbye for the fans. And the only one who couldn’t be bothered to show up for a couple of scenes was Edelstein. How small of her.
But it was a great show, even without her.

So unkind that she couldn’t sacrifice two days to shoot a couple of scenes for the series she always claimed to love, with the people she always claimed to admire, for her fans she always claimed to be grateful for?
We don’t know what happened, but we do know that her fans spend lots of time harassing anyone related to House with a twitter account, we do know that they spread hatred and bitterness everywhere, and we do know that she’s aware of her fans when she wants to to be.
Refusing to be part of the finale of the series that made her rich and famous under those circumstances does seem petty to me, yes.

Omg, this is what ive been trying to say to people! Thankyou! Haha. Its just like, I dont care what went on between her and them, this show made her career and she couldn’t even say one final farewell. Its just rude.

LOVED THE FINALE!!!!!!!!!!! the only thing i was upset about, was that i was really looking forward for 13 coming back for the end and in the 2 episdoes she was there she had less lines the any other guest star (other then Masters)…. but otherwise it was amazing… really enjoyed having all my favorites from the past return……

Having Cutthroat Bitch/Amber pop up made up for no Cuddy, as far as I’m concerned.

Everybody Dies may not have been the best series finale I have ever seen (that would be the Newhart finale…), but it was true to the characters and made sense. I give it a B+ (House and Wilson on a road trip! Yay!).

Read the article on the Finale at Blogcritics. It is absolutely right on the head– each person appearing to House represents one step up the ladder towards life… and love, and the giving of his life to Wilson. His remarkable, brilliant life.

I loved seeing all of the old characters come back. The House/Wilson ending was wonderful, and I loved seeing Chase as the department head, Cameron with her own little family, & Foreman with that knowing glint in his eye.

Amber, Kutner, and Stacy were all used very well.

It did feel weird without Cuddy, but I think that they wrapped up the story nicely.

In my mind, however, Wilson will miraculously recover and House will either move to Las Vegas for a lifetime supply of hookers or he will just get a bachelor pad with Wilson or something.

I was really disappointed to be honest. Having House fake his own death was a cop-out and the fact that his mother had to suffer losing a child seemed unncessarily cruel. Plus, none of the characters really got their storylines wrapped up – the Chase/Adams potential romance, what will happen after Wilson dies, what the hell is going on with Cuddy… Unconventional ending yes, but it felt lacklustre and needlessly depressing. They didn’t have to give Wilson cancer, they didn’t have to get rid of Cuddy, they didn’t have to have Chase kiss Park (I still have nightmares, that was so gross) and they didn’t have to have House fake his death due to the fact that they didn’t have to have that prank go so terribly wrong. Nobody said it had to be smooth sailing and perfect bow ties but the fact that it was so, so sad and hopeless in the end was really disrespectful to the fans.

I didn’t care about all the “unanswered questions” or the credibility of facts, I just enjoyed so much that House really had a friend, and was there for him, and would stay by his side until his last breath. Nice to know that Wilson will have someone to care for him. Couldn’t get a better doctor!

Could been a lot better. Very disappointed that Chase & Cameron didn’t stay married. And never explaination on why they got a divorce. Wasted a talent of actress that play Cuddy with her being covered by sheets on every seam in the final season she was on the show. Why couldn’t they let her end up as Wilson wife or having an affair with Chase at least once? Cuddy and House had some good battles, too. Also, why didn’t the directors let Wilson die first, then have House have trouble accepting his death, and he later die sin his sleep with a drug overdose or/and heart attack? I am surprised that they accepted his dealth without finding his body first, and they have Dr. G. do an (ob-top-see) like she did for Caylee in real life.

DIsappointing ending. Danced around House’s ultimate struggle. I care less about which way they would have resolved it than that I care that they resolve it. Instead… meh.

As series finales go, this was much more “Sopranos” (a major disappointment) than “Lost” (a rather bold surprise). All three revolved around the same enormous issue, but “House,” like “The Sopranos,” ultimately copped out in the end.

Too bad no one in Hollywood has the stones to really examine the transcendental issues anymore.

The best Finale ever! I am happy that I did not have to watch Wilson die. It would have been too heartbreaking. It is very fulfilling that the two of them got to ride off into the sunset. True Friends. Love that Chase is the new “House”.

I thought it was very good. House became “enlightened.” I feel sorry for him after W. dies, but I think Stacy (in his subconscious) was telling him he would have another relationship and even a child, if he wanted one.

I miss house as well. I agree the writers were sick. I think that’s why they cancel shows now not that fans are tiring of them. I have TVo and get house recorded on syndication and watch 18 hours strait now when the first run is recorded does that show up on neilsin polls? PS to the people that want Mr. Laurie to show up or take over a show I would love to see him as the next doctor since the one now is gone but alas he has said that he wont act again he is touring with his band and that is his job now. And he Is pretty darn good at it too! Loved him on the queen Mary

it isn’t always what the viewers want. Most of the actors were wanting to get out and do other things. I have heardd Hugh Laurie say it many times. They feel they get old in a role for that long, and there is nothing new to bring to the table. I miss house also

not sure if anyone mentioned this, but House is Dead. we saw him die in through the window. how could he have survived that and come back with not a burn on him? plus he is on the stoop with no cane. i know the one he lost at the warehouse, but he has others.
everything after the explosion was him in Heaven. the talked so much about not believing in it, it has now come back to reward him.
and riding off into the sunset with his best friend, thinking about how everyone would miss him, think nice thoughts, everyone happy. even his last prank on his boss, leaving the ID, is pure house heaven.
sorry, House is dead.

My only regret? when he was at the warehouse, i thought he was dreaming. forgot he also halucinates when high. so i kept not being concerned about the fire. oops.